Car.



Hm 854,701. PATENTED MAY 21, 1907.

s. OTIS,

CAR.

APPLICATION FILED 0UT.4. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

O O m0 0 m 000 ifzyerzzv/ No. 854,701. PATENTED MAY 21,1907.

S. OTIS.

GAR.

APPLICATION FILED 0017.4, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

SPENCER. OTIS, or cHIcAoo, ILLiNOI their closed position.

UNITED ,srarns arnnr; heron.

S, ASSIGNOR TO NATIONAL DUMP CAR ooMPANY, A CORPORATION or MAINE.

can,

Specification of Letters ?atent.

Patented may 21, 1907.

To (all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SPENCER OTIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago,

in the county of Cook and State 01 Illinois, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Cars, of which the following is aspecification.

My'invention relates to improvements in cars, and particularly to themeans for opening and closing the dumping doors in the ass of so-calleddump cars.

My invention is an improvement upon cars of this class; and has for itsspecific object the provision of more simple and durable means f orrotating the shaft which b'ears against the doors to close them and tosecure them in Mv invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in which Figure 1 is an end elevation of a car provided with myimprovements. Fig. 2 is a detail sectional elevation of one of theratchet devices shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3 ofFig. 2. Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4 of Fig, 2.

Referring to the drawings, a represents the end of a car resting uponthe end sill b, which may he of wood or metal. immediately below the endsill and secured thereto are the slanting racks 1:. having teeth (1thereon and arranged to guide the toothed rollers (1 1n such manner asto bring the shaft d, upon which such rollers are mounted, into registrywith the cams e, which are secured to the (loorsf, so that when theroller and shaft are in the position shown on the lefthand side the camwill rest with its llat portion e upon the shaft and the door will besecurely held in its horizontal closed position. This shaft (Z extendsthecntirc length of the car and ma v be supported at several pointsthroughout its length by racks and. braces sinnlarto c, a cog beingplaced upon the shaft to register with each of the braces v in order tomove the shaft from the position shown at the left of Fig. l to theposition shown at the right of Fig. l, i have provided a sprocket wheel9 secured to the shaft and around which the chain i1 extends to asprocket wheel '11, which is adapted. to ho rotatcd by means of thehandle y. In order to maintain the two sprocket wheels always at thesame distance apart, I ha ve provided the :niotal link 7c, through thelower cud of which shaft Z.

the shaft d extends and to the up er end of which is secured the fork inwine forms a portion of the bearing fortlie upper sprocket It isconvenient in rotating this upper sprocket wheel to oscillate the handlerather than give it complete revolutions, and

in order that motion may thus be transmitted to the sprocket wheel Ihave provided two ratchet Wheels m and n and two reversible ratchet awlsm and n, the former being pivoted between forks j and upon the handleand being provided with the spring m which holds the pawl in either ofits two positions against the ratchet wheel; and the latter ratchet pawln being pivoted upon the upper end of the link k, such that it can bethrown either to the right or to the left to prevent the sprocket wheelfrom turning backward when the back stroke of the handle is being made.

It will be noted that the shaft (1 describes a substantially straightpath in passing from one end to the other of the rack c, andthereforethe upper end of the link 71: cannot be simply pivoted but must besecured to the end a of the car in such manner as to allow sufficientvertical motion to compensate for the difference in distance between theshaft d and the original position of the upper sprocket. Through the enda of the car is I laced a thimble a, this thimble bein r0- P s P videdwith a longitudinal slot a through which the end of the upper sprocketshaft extends. Upon the end of the shaft Z, the nut 0, having a flangelarge enough to cover the slot (1, is threaded, and in order to preventits becoming loosened the pin 0 is passed through the nut and thethreaded end of the shaft. Against the outside of the slot a the flangedportion l of the shaft Zrosts, and together with the nut 0 prevents dirtfrom getting into the slot. lhc sprocket Wheel i and large ratchet n arelikewise secured to the shaft by the pin ll", while the small ratchet mis formed with a squ'aro opening and fitted to a square portion of shaltl. The nut 0 is threaded upon the projecting end of shaft Z to hold thehandle j and small ratchet in place, and. is likewise prevented fromturning y a pin 0.

in operation, supposing the door to be originally closed as shown ontholeft of Fig. 1, the ratchetpawl m is thrown so that the oscillation ofthe handle jcauses a clockwise of the upper sprocket imparting a similarclockwise rotation to the lower sprocket and thereby to the lower shaftand pinions secured thereon and moves the shaft as a whole down theincline of the rack c. This allows the door f to swing downward upon itshinges, the cam 12 following in contact with the shaft. When it isdesired 'to again close the doors, the position of the ratchet pawl m isreversed and the pawl n is thrown into the position shown on the left ofFig. 1, so that as the handle is oscillated to rotate the upper sprocketin a counter clockwise direction the ratchet pawl m will catch upon theratchet teeth 11 and preyent the shaft from moving under the weight ofthe door while the back stroke of the handle is being made.

While I have here described and shown certain details of my invention,it is to be understood that I do not wish to be unduly lim ited thereto,it being possible to provide details of other form without departingfrom the spirit or scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a car of the class described, the combination of a frame, a hingeddumping door forming a part of the bottom of the car, a reciprooatingshaft beneath the door and. op eratively connected therewith, anddriving mechanism connected at one end to the reciprocating shaft and atits opposite end in shdin engagement with the end of the car.

2. in a car of the class described, the combination of-a flanie, ahinged (lumping door ciprocating shaft beneath the door and,op-

' eratively connected therewith, a link having itslower end movable withthe shaft and having its upper end in sliding engagement with the end ofthe car, and driving means carried by the link.

In a car of the class described, the combination of a frame, a hingeddumping door forming a part of the bottom of the car, a reciprocatingshaft beneath the door and operatively connected therewith, a track uponwhich the shaft is supported, a sprocket wheel on the shaft, a sprocketwheel mounted upon the end of the car, a rigid link connecting thesprocket wheels, 21 chain passing around the sprocket wheels, and anoperat ing device for the chain and sprocket mechanism.

4. In a car of the class described, the ,comhination of a frame, ahingcddumping door forming a part of the bottom of the car, a reciprocatingshaft beneath the door and operatively connected therewith, a sprocketwheel upon this shaft, an operating shaft in sliding engagement with theend of the car, a

sprocket wheel on the operating shaft, a rigid link connecting theshafts, a detent mechanism for the operating shaft, a chain, and anoperating handle on the operating shaft.

SPENCER OTIS.

' ,Witnesses:

CARTER B a'rcr-monn, A. J. EPrn-nson.

